Days Go By
by ScribeoftheVirus
Summary: Emma has disappeared after sacrificing herself for the town, and Regina finds herself dealing with the aftermath. Certain feelings eventually come to light as she clings to a certain red leather jacket. Angsty SwanQueen.
1. Part 1

**_Two days._ **

Regina sat at her desk, her head bowed over some paperwork two days after… what happened. Her palms were clammy as she filled out the form, trying to remember every single detail she could about that night. She had gone over the story again and again with the others, just to make sure she got every single aspect of the story correct. She didn't want to miss anything, since anything could give the town a clue as to where she could be.

Charming should be handling this, not her. Charming should be the one filling out the missing person's report and organizing search parties and trying to keep the town from tearing itself apart in panic and fear. _He_ was the deputy, for Christ's sake, not her. Instead, here she was, doing his job for him while he and his wife had the world's biggest pity party.

And Hook… the fool was probably passed out in the alley behind the Rabbit Hole by now. It was only 9am, but that was hardly too early for him. She resisted the urge to crush the pen in her hand at the thought of his complete and utter selfishness. "She's gone," he had said, turning away from her when she had swallowed her pride and asked for his help. "She's gone, just like Millah." And with that, he wandered off. Ruby – the only one who seemed to actually be searching – informed Regina later that he was drinking at the bar, threatening to gut anyone who got near him.

Leaving everything having to do with finding the Sheriff to her.

In reality, she didn't mind the work. She didn't trust anyone else to do it correctly anyway. Regina was good at covering her bases, good at considering all the possibilities. The missing persons report would be spread throughout town, making sure everyone was aware of what was going on. Henry was at the apartment, finding a good picture to put up on flyers they would tape to every post they could that afternoon. Ruby and Belle were gathering any and all volunteers in the evening to lead a massive search party through the woods, while the fairies prepared a locator spell. It was more excitement then she was used to handling as Mayor (in an official capacity, that is), but she was dealing with it with the utmost professionalism, and the town (for the most part) was starting to rally behind her without question.

She shook her head at the thought. How different things had been not that long ago. When had it come to pass that _she_ was the one who everyone turned to in times of trouble? When had she gone from The Evil Queen to….

Her pen fell from her hand. No, the town had a Savior. The town had someone to rely on, and it wasn't her. She was the villain, not the hero. The hero would be back. The hero always won. She would find Emma, and everything would be back to normal. She'd hug their son and smile at Regina before falling right back in with their stupid banter over the nutritional value of a grilled cheese. They'd have lunch together again, and Emma would come in wearing that God-awful red jacket –

She glanced down at the paper bag by her feet. Inside was the leather jacket, the one that had been left on the pavement in Emma's wake, two nights ago. The memory was still as clear as day in her head – Emma tearing the jacket off her and scooping up the dagger. Regina had been the one to pick it up from the ground after she was gone. No one else had made the move to even get close. She remembered clutching to it, as if squeezing it as hard as she could would somehow stop the unexplainable pain that had started to grip her. She clung to the fabric, wishing that somehow holding it in desperation would bring its wearer back.

She remembered standing there for what felt like ages before Robin tried to approach. The minute his hand fell on her shoulder, she flinched away from him. She remembered feeling like The Evil Queen then, wearing one of her famous scowls, directed at the man she was supposed to love, like he was her worst enemy. What could _he_ do to make this better? _He_ couldn't bring Emma back, and she knew he certainly didn't care enough about the blonde to try. She suddenly understood all too well Emma's desire to not be touched when she was upset.

It took a desperate hug from Henry (who approached her without so much as a hint of fear in his eyes) to calm her down. After that, Henry moved to pick up the Dagger that still lay on the pavement, and the two of them retreated to the mansion and cried. Neither of them spoke as they sat in the living room with tears running down their faces. They stayed that way in the much-too-empty house for an hour before they tried to figure out what to do. Henry's first thought was to call Emma with the Dagger, but Regina had talked him out of it, cautioning him that Emma might not be in control of herself at all. Eventually, the two of them had gotten up and decided to go out to search. They had been the first to recover from the whole ordeal, and as awful as she and Henry felt, Regina couldn't help but feel good that they were the ones who started the search for Emma.

It was just Regina and Henry out there, determination lighting their eyes as they searched for the third member of their unofficial family.

She had been thankful for Henry's silence, for his lack of questions as to why Regina was as upset as she was. She knew she wouldn't have been able to give him an answer then, and even now as she gazed down at that red jacket, she still wasn't sure what she felt.

Emma was gone, and instead of feeling the sadness she had expected from losing a friend, it was… something much more than that.

But she didn't have time for this. This paperwork needed to be done, and if she didn't act, the town was just going to move on without her. After all, it wouldn't the first time most of them had treated Emma like an outsider. If Regina didn't make this an issue, most of them would just pretend like it never happened and go on living perfect little lives.

But Regina had never been one to let other people enjoy perfect little lives.

She returned to the work with renewed vigor, but just before she started to really settle in, she removed the red leather jacket from the bag and draped it neatly across the back of her chair.

This way, Regina could believe that Emma was only out of the room for a moment, invading her personal space, and leaving her stuff where it didn't belong.

Just the way it should be.

* * *

 **_Five days._ **

Regina was back in the office again for the first time since she filled out the missing persons report, and she was not in a terrific mood.

For the first time in her magically enhanced and extended lifetime, she felt like time was her worst enemy. Everyday, for the past three days, she and Henry had been out looking for Emma, along with more than half of the town. It was impressive to say the least to see a mob of fairytale characters trudging through the woods every night, shouting Emma's name as loud as they possibly could. It was even more impressive with Regina leading the charge wearing jeans and a t-shirt, her hair in a loose ponytail, and a fireball in her hand to make sure everyone knew where she was.

Not that anyone could miss her dressed down look.

Originally, she had just been trying to be comfortable and functional while the search went on in something she could get dirty and not care about. As the search continued, however, she realized that there was never a moment when she _wasn't_ searching or chasing down leads. By the end of the first night, she was done dressing up for a while.

By end of the second night, she started to panic. Everyday that went by was another day that Emma could be dying of hunger or thirst or exhaustion. The thought of it made her chest ache, made her want to go down into her vault and scream and cry and curse at the sheer futility of it all. Emma could be suffering, and what was she doing? Organizing people, marching around like some goddamned hero would, and getting no results whatsoever.

The search of the woods surrounding Storybrooke continued to yield no results, leading most of the citizens to believe that Emma wasn't out there at all. No one in town had seen any sign of the blonde in any of the buildings or shops. Belle had combed every inch of the library, including the cavern beneath it and found nothing. Regina and a few of the dwarves went down into the mines, but the only thing they had to show for it was a thick layer of dirt coating their faces.

The fairies had prepared their locator spell and poured it over the blonde's red jacket (provided by Regina), only to find that it led them absolutely nowhere. Both Pongo and Ruby in her wolf form used the jacket to find Emma's scent, but found nothing, almost as if she had never lived in the town at all. Regina, however, refused to accept either of those things as evidence that Emma was gone, preferring to believe that Emma could simply be using her magic to block her trail.

One night when sleep had evaded her into the wee small hours, she grabbed the Dagger from its unofficial place on the living room coffee table and crept out into the woods. It had taken her an hour, standing in the middle of the cold night, to muster up enough courage to whisper Emma's name over the blade. But nothing had happened, and she headed home in defeat.

The places that Emma could be dwindled as quickly as Emma's time did, and Henry and Regina had to fight against thinking the worst. The two of them were constantly working to find her, checking everywhere they could think of and then checking again. They questioned people endlessly, earning both the pity and annoyance of most of the town rather quickly.

They were practically tied at the hip in their search, never leaving the other's sight for more than an hour or two for fear that they might lose yet another person they loved. They rattled off ideas during meals, plans for the next search, double checks, and possible clues. It was an unnamed operation, their search for Emma, and it was by far, the one that they were the most dedicated to.

It was during their most recent dinner that Henry finally said what Regina had started to suspect.

"Maybe she was sent to another realm?"

It was very possible. The Dagger certainly wouldn't have been able to allow her to jump from one world to the next, and with their dismal failures piling up in the town, it started to seem the most likely. But which realm would she be in? Would she be in any shape to take care of herself or defend herself? Would she have her magic to protect her? Could she ever get back? Would she ever try to?

The questions haunted Regina for the rest of the night until she ended up at the office in her chair with Emma's jacket in her lap. She stayed there for an hour or so, gazing absently out her window into the night with her hands buried in leather. She knew she would have to leave Storybrooke to go find Emma, and she knew that as soon as she found a way, Henry would insist on coming with her. The mother in her screamed at the thought of Henry coming along, but the other parts told her that Henry would find a way on his own if she didn't allow it. Besides, if _she_ couldn't get Emma to come back home, Henry definitely could.

Regina still wasn't entirely convinced that Emma was gone from Storybrooke however. They could still do some more digging, more interviewing, more searching. And they would. For another day or two. The worst thing that could happen was if Regina and Henry left in search of Emma while she was under their noses the whole time. No, they would continue the search for while before moving on to the next possibility.

But time seemed to always be against her.

She was about to leave, the leather jacket clutched in her hand when a loud rapping sounded on the door.

"Regina, know you're in there," came the slurred statement from a very obviously drunk Hook. With a growl, Regina marched up to the door and yanked it open, trying not to cough at the pungent smell of alcohol coming off of him.

"What the hell do you want?" she said, making sure to enunciate every syllable so that he didn't misunderstand her.

"Have yuh found 'er yet, love?" he asked, his eyes closing for a minute as he tried to hold onto the door frame for balance. "I'm no' sure how much more o' this I can take."

"Well, perhaps if you stopped drinking yourself to death and helped Henry and I search, we would be a little closer to finding her," Regina sneered. This was the last thing she needed, to take care of the drunk puppy while he claimed he was in so much pain. It took everything in her not to set him on fire in the middle of the hallway.

"R'gina – "

"Go home, Hook," she nearly yelled. "The only thing you seem to want to find is the bottom of another bottle, and I don't see how that helps find Emma." With that, she moved to side step the man, only to be stopped a moment later by a hand grabbing onto the red jacket in Regina's hands.

"This is hers," he said slowly, as if he was trying to come up with some earth-shattering conclusion. "You took this from 'er."

"No, she left it behind," she said, tugging on the leather that Hook refused to relinquish. "You didn't seem to have a particular desire for it that night. In fact, I distinctly remember you walking away towards the bar as soon as she was gone."

"I deserve to keep this," he said, his voice suddenly dropping in volume. If Regina didn't know any better, she would have thought he was going to threaten her. Surely Hook wasn't that stupid.

"I don't want to hurt you, Regina. Give it to me."

Rage burned behind her eyes, and she didn't even fight the dark smile that spread across her face. If Hook wanted to play this way, that was fine by her. She was pissed off anyway.

A twitch of her hand sent him flying against the wall, his hand gripping his throat as if something were strangling him.

"I don't know who the _hell_ you think you are," she said, her voice turning to that low, menacing octave that she tended to favor back in her darker days. "You walk around this town every damn day, pissed drunk, like you're the only one who misses Emma. Have you thought nothing of Henry? Of how he must feel losing his mother? His hero? Or of her parents? Though, they aren't any better than you, sitting on their asses all day, going over in their heads what they did wrong instead of helping me fix it.

"But really, even that is better than what you do, making a display of yourself, like you're in such pain. Is that your plan then? Drink until your skin turns yellow and you die so you can be reunited with your beloved since you believe that she's dead already?" She squeezed her fingers slightly, tightening the magical hold around Hook's neck. "You're pathetic, and the only reason I'm keeping you alive is because it's what Emma would want."

"Wh-why are you doing this?" he managed to choke out. Regina cocked her head at the question.

"Why am I doing what?" she asked innocently, her fingers twitching again. Hook gagged. "Why am I treating you like an arrogant pissant who steps all over the lives of those around him in order to make room for his own? Because that's what you are, dear. Someone in this town had to say it. I'm just glad it got to be me."

Without another word, she released her hold on him, smiling sweetly at the hard thud his body made on the floor. He looked up at her with drunken contempt.

"Emma would never forgive you for doing that," he sneered, trying and failing to get to his feet. Regina's smile faded.

"Emma's opinion of me isn't what's important," she said, her eyes boring into his own. "What matters most is that she's safe and happy. I would sacrifice anything to make that happen. Even if she hated me for the rest of our lives, I would gladly give up everything that I have to bring her back.

"I'm trying everyday to do just that, and what the hell are _you_ doing? Drinking and trying to take the one thing… Henry and I have left of her, like some petulant child." She squeezed the leather in her hand, as if it would give her some of Emma's strength. "Stop acting like you're the only one in this town who loves her, and _shut the fuck up_."

Regina hadn't realized until then that she had started to cry. She kept it together as best she could in front of the pirate, only letting a few tears fall while she worked to reduce the trembling in her lower lip. Hook only stared back at her, wordlessly shocked at her speech.

"Regina."

The voice had come from behind her, and she turned quickly, not realizing how tightly she held the jacket to her chest. David stood in the hallway facing them both. Behind him, Regina could see that he left the Town Hall doors open, and his patrol car was parked on the curb outside. His eyes were rimmed with red from either sorrow or exhaustion. Probably both.

She didn't know what she expected the former prince to do as he walked up to her, but the last thing she would have guessed was the hug that he gave her. Without a word of preamble, he wrapped his arms around her in one of the most desperate hugs she had ever received. She was even more surprised when she hugged him back, one arm still gripping the leather even as it wrapped around his middle.

"I'm so sorry," he said softly, with a hitch in his voice that made her think he might have been crying. "I'm sorry that Snow and I left you and Henry to do this alone. It's selfish, and you don't deserve it." He pulled away from her then, and turned quickly to wipe his face clean of tears. "We'll try to be better, like we always have. Better for Emma and Henry… and better for you."

Regina didn't know what to say. She had rarely seen Charming show so much emotion, let alone in an apology. Let alone, an apology to her. Thankfully, he kept going. "If you don't mind, I'd like to start by running him in," he said, moving past her to drag Hook up to his feet.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, mate?"

David frowned. "I saw you break in here, Hook. I watched you threaten Regina. You're also drunk in public. You're getting at least a day behind bars," Charming said, pulling Hook towards the entrance and the waiting patrol car. "And after that, you can do a little community service by helping us look for my daughter. Since you're so _in love_ with her."

"Thank you, Deputy," she called back after him. She tried not to smile at Charming's obvious disappointment in Hook. It was truly a shame, she thought, bringing the red jacket to her chest once more.

She always thought Hook and Charming went so well together.

* * *

 **_Seven days._ **

Regina was crying.

Actually, Regina was sobbing. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened, what exactly had triggered her to break down like this, but she honestly didn't care.

The sun had set several hours ago, marking the exact time Emma had disappeared a week ago. She had been fine throughout the day, the last day her and Henry would search the town before completely dedicating their time to finding a way to jump between realms. They searched from the early morning to late afternoon before calling it quits.

Regina then went home to change into one of her more presentable outfits before heading out to talk to Jefferson. They talked for an hour and a half before deciding that their plan – which would take considerable time to prepare – should work.

She left to explain everything to Henry that evening while the two of them started dinner. As they prepared their meal and talked animatedly about their plan, Regina couldn't help but feel… good. There she was, busying herself around the kitchen while her and Henry bounced around different ideas of where she might be, what they would do when they got there, what they would need to bring with them. It almost felt normal, planning an adventure with her son, the red jacket hung over the chair in the dining room where Emma liked to sit.

It had felt almost like Emma was there with them, and they were only talking about a fun story, some type of hypothetical thing while Emma watched fondly from her chair to the right of Regina's. Even when Regina realized that Emma _wasn't_ there with them, she couldn't stop herself from thinking that she would be there soon enough. All of Henry's talk and planning had Regina anxious to get started, to go out there and bring their Sheriff home. She felt… hopeful.

The feeling died, however, when a knock came at the mansion door just as she had finished cooking. Robin was there, and he had practically begged her to talk with him. She should have been happy to see him, should have invited him inside to share in her and Henry's meal. Instead, all she wanted was for him to leave so that her and her son could continue in their excitement.

In all honesty, she had barely thought about Robin for days. He had showed up for the first few town searches, and she had smiled at him in appreciation, but her head was constantly filled with worry over Emma. There simply hadn't been room for anything else. Eventually, he stopped coming, being one of the first to abandon hope of finding the Sheriff. Her gut (and Henry), however, suggested to her that the real reason he stopped showing up was because she had been ignoring him. The thought made her a little queasy. Her Emma was missing, and he was upset that she wasn't _paying attention to him?_ She had tried to believe that he would never be as selfish as that, but those hopes were crushed that night.

"I hardly see you anymore," Robin said softly. He reached out and grabbed her hand, but she didn't return the same pressure. "I was wondering if you could talk for a bit?"

"I can't right now, I'm having dinner with Henry," she replied woodenly. She didn't really know what to do here. How was she supposed to tell him that she didn't want him around?

"…Well, what about after?" he asked after a moment, expecting the invitation inside that Regina didn't want to extend. "I could come back?"

"Actually, I just wanted to be with Henry tonight," she replied, trying to offer him a smile that ended up looking as dismissing as it felt. "We're having family time right now."

She paused after saying that, not sure why it had come out of her mouth at all. She could have just as easily said mother-son time, or bonding time, or private dinnertime, but she hadn't. "Family time," had fallen from her lips and despite the implications that excluded Robin from that equation, she couldn't bring herself to regret saying it. She automatically looked back into the house at the table where Henry and Emma – no, Emma's jacket – were seated. Despite the very real absence of that third member, _this_ was her family. There was no room for anyone else… and Regina _liked_ it that way.

"I'm sorry, Robin," she said, turning back to him with a small, absent-minded smile, thinking of that red leather jacket. "Not tonight."

"I don't understand," he said, his voice taking on a rather hurt tone. "You came for me. You brought me back here… for what, exactly?"

It was a valid question, but it was one Regina no longer had an answer for. A week ago, she might have said that she brought him back to be with him, to love him, but that wasn't the truth anymore. Something had taken over her thoughts and desires the moment Emma was gone, and it was far greater than her feelings for Robin.

 _Emma_ was far more important to her than Robin.

A part of her was sad that the feeling was gone, that she no longer had room in her heart for Robin to be what he desired of her. A much larger part of her, however, screamed in triumph at the admission that Emma was higher on her priority list. Just that simple thought made her feel right, made her feel better than she had in a very long time.

Actually… she felt as good now as she had when she had been in love with Daniel. Maybe even bet-

"Regina?"

Robin's voice shook her from her thoughts, promptly asking what it was that was making her face flush.

"I'm sorry, Robin," she said, moving her hand out of the rogue's grip. "Not tonight. In fact, I won't have time to talk for a while. My top priority is finding Emma. I don't have time to focus on anything else." The resolve in her voice had been extremely clear, and the hurt expression on his face only deepened.

"Regina, are you… are you breaking up with me?"

"I think… that that would be best, yes," she responded, her voice sure and steady. "Henry and I are going to be leaving soon to find her. When we bring her back and she's safe, we can… talk about things. Right now, I just want to be alone with my son."

Robin took a step back, as if he had been wounded. He continued to back away though, not pushing her for anything else. Regina thought that she'd want to comfort him, to take his hand and say something to reassure him, to make him feel better. She didn't. In fact, all she could feel as he lowered his head and turned away was relief. For the first time in years, she felt free.

"Everything alright, mom?" Henry asked, walking up to her as Robin took his chance to leave. She turned and smiled at her son who was watching Robin disappear into the darkness with suspicion. Her smile widened, knowing that he must feel the same way she did now. Emma was the only one allowed in the house during dinner.

"Everything's fine dear. Let's eat."

Not long after Henry had said good night, Regina began to grow restless. She couldn't help the feeling that someone should be there with her, watching Late Night on the couch next to her and munching on unhealthy snacks. It certainly hadn't been the first time feeling that way, but it was the first time she realized who it was that she wanted next to her.

She decided that what she needed was a walk, so without even thinking, she grabbed Emma's jacket, slipped it on, and went out the door.

Before she even knew where she wanted to go, she was walking to her office, wrapping the leather tighter around herself against the night chill. Soon, she found herself on the steps of Town Hall, unlocking the door with a deft touch, and stepping inside. Just as the doors shut behind her, the wind from outside blew around her and sent the lingering smell of cinnamon and honey and _Emma_ from the jacket straight to her nose.

She stopped dead behind the door, suddenly weak in the knees and trembling. She thought maybe for a moment that she had imagined the smell; after all, she had spent nearly all week carrying that jacket around and never noticed it before. She looked down at the leather caressing her body before lifting a sleeve to her face.

The scent of her was still there, and Regina only just realized that she had been surrounding herself with it. She popped the collar, trying to bring the material closer to her face. She inhaled deeply, absentmindedly shuffling to her office as Emma began to invade her senses.

Regina didn't really have any memories where she had gotten terribly close to the blonde, always catching her faint scent off the wind or feeling just the touch of a strong, yet gentle hand on her arm. Their physical interactions were mostly limited to brief touches or those times when they had been furious with one another and fought.

Now, as she opened her office door, she regretted the way that the two of them always seemed to tiptoe around one another. In almost every interaction they had together, they had always seemed to be dangerously close to crashing into one another. Regina could count in her head all the times during those first few months where she wasn't sure if she had wanted to slap or kiss that look of defiance right off the other woman's face.

As their friendship grew, there were more than a few times where she had to stop herself from going in for a hug, or gripping Emma's hand. Once, and only once, she had almost let herself caress Emma's face after healing a small cut she got while messing around with Henry. She remembered the way her heart had fluttered at the disappointment in the blonde's eyes when the touch never came.

Now, Emma was gone, and Regina stood in the middle of the mayoral office with the red leather jacket wrapped around her, and tears running down her cheeks. She hadn't even realized she was crying until she reached her desk and sunk into the chair. She slipped the jacket off slowly, and held it to her chest, burying her face in the material to cling to the only thing she had of Emma's.

Finally, she let the sorrow take hold, and sobbed. It was like a floodgate opening, all of her fears and doubts bubbling to the forefront of her mind and destroying the hope that had been blossoming within her chest. She was afraid that the plan wouldn't work, that Emma was lost forever, or that she and Henry would never get home. She was afraid of getting home _without_ Emma, afraid of having to live the rest of her life wishing for the lover that she hadn't even realized that she wanted. She was ashamed and angry at herself for taking this long to figure everything out, for waiting until Emma was actually gone to realize how she really felt about her. She felt like a fool for wasting so much time with hate and soul mates and authors.

She had her own happiness standing right in front of her, and she let it slip through her fingers. Like the dust left behind from crushing her own heart.

She barely felt herself sink to the floor in her weeping. She felt like another person then, sad and cold and weak. She wasn't ashamed of feeling like she did, but something kept telling her that she should be. She shouldn't be acting like this, like a used and broken little toy with no one there to pick up the pieces. She was a _Queen_ , one of the most powerful to have ever lived. She did _not_ cower under hardwood desks in the fetal position, crying into a filthy, used, old garment like the world had just ended. There were only two people in her life that she had ever permitted herself to feel true sorrow for - Daniel and Henry.

The Savior should most definitely not be allowed the same weight as the other two. She had tried to steal Henry away, she broke the curse, she ruined the relationship she had with Robin Hood. This woman _destroyed_ everything she had spent most of her life working for. Regina should be happy that she's gone, happy to have Henry all to herself, happy that Snow and Charming are finally as miserable as she had been for so long, and happy that she was finally free of that stubborn, inconsiderate, intolerable, _beautiful_ woman for good.

But here she was, not even ashamed to be crying over the loss of said woman. Regina had even admitted to herself that she had _feelings_ for her. She felt pathetic. She felt weak. She didn't care.

Tomorrow, her and Henry would start preparing for their journey. Tomorrow, she would wake up, determined and ready to get the ball rolling and bring Emma home. Tomorrow, she would look up at the sunrise peaking through her window and find that hope filling her heart once more, accompanied by a slight flutter of anticipation. Tomorrow, she would smile at the horizon, knowing that she would find Emma, and bring her home to the people who loved her.

Tomorrow.

Tonight, she would feel small, and cry beneath her desk as her crushing regret and dread of failing rendered her useless. Tonight, she let herself feel afraid and desperate for the woman who ruined her life. Tonight, she would wish that things had been different in a million different ways, and curse herself for not seeing them done.

Tomorrow would come, and Regina would forget all this foolishness, because Emma wasn't gone. Emma would be home, and Regina would be the one to bring her there. There would be no point to all this crying. Emma would be alright, and Regina would laugh at herself for acting so silly.

But tonight, Emma was gone.

And all that Regina had left of her was a red leather jacket.


	2. Part 2

**TW for seizing and pain.**

 **Two Days**

Emma was lost.

And in pain.

Two days had passed since that night in Storybrooke. It was a strange thing, watching the time pass right before her eyes. She was unable to move, barely able to think, and consumed with a thousand other thoughts and sensations at once. And yet, her overworked brain still insisted on counting how many times the sun had passed above her. Her time always seemed to be running out.

She wasn't exactly sure where she was. A beach of some kind – that much was obvious from the sand beneath her and the sound of the waves that would sometimes reach her feet as she lie there, unable to move out of the way. A constant, dark cloud cover blanketed the sky above her, threatening with every passing minute to erupt into a fierce thunderstorm. The ocean breeze would blow her hair around her head, sometimes into her face where it would stay until another wind blew it away. There were trees behind her that rustled in the cool air, the sound both pleasantly numbing and annoyingly loud.

There were no animals for miles, if she had to guess. She hadn't seen so much as a seagull pass overhead (otherwise, she would have counted them), and when the forest behind her wasn't moving with the wind, there was no sound at all. No crickets chirping or squirrels chittering. Besides the ocean, everything around her was dead silent.

It was probably the coming storm, she tried to reason when she could form coherent thoughts again. That was a thing, right? Animals got really quiet before a big storm hit, didn't they? But there was something wrong with that reasoning too. The clouds in the sky above her had been swirling like that for _two days_ , not seeming to move anywhere or dissipate in any type of fashion. It was like everything – including the sky itself – was holding its breath. Everything was waiting… watching to see what was going to happen.

And she got the eerie feeling that everything was waiting on her.

Not that she was in any position to do anything at the moment. _Everything_ hurt.

The pain had not stopped rolling through her body since she woke on the beach. When she had tried to open her eyes for the first time, her body had protested so much that she blacked out as soon as her eyes caught sight of the clouds above her. She took it slower the next time, managing to keep her eyes open for a few hours before she succumbed to blackness again when the feeling of breathing became too much.

Her entire body felt wrong, like a million little bugs were crawling beneath her skin and devouring her as slowly as they possibly could. Every attempted movement was answered with a blaze of fire igniting her tissue and making her wish she were still unconscious. The desire to tear her own flesh off of her bones was overwhelming, just not so overwhelming that it made her want to move.

But despite the physical pain, the pain in her head was much worse.

At first, it had started out as a sort of white noise playing in the back of her head. It wasn't too unbearable, but it was distinct. She even remembered hearing it as soon as she thrust her hand into that swirling vortex of darkness surrounding Regina. She heard it while she was unconscious, a constant, fuzzy din echoing in her head like it was its own presence.

As time went by, the sound changed. It grew steadily louder with each passing moment, but she only started to care when she could actively notice the headache, despite the agonizing pain throughout the rest of her body. It became so loud that by the time her first night on the beach was beginning to end, she was silently screaming to be blacked out again. Her ears had been ringing with a sound that wasn't even real. She couldn't think anymore. She couldn't do anything anymore. There had only been the noise in her own head that made her wish that the clouds above her would strike her with lightning and end her suffering.

Her body had begun to twitch, sending new pain shooting down through her limbs with the movement. Her head lolled to the side as her back started arching involuntarily from the pain. The jerking of her body became more and more violent, as her head screamed in agony, her arms and legs shaking and trembling of their own accord. Something in her mind quietly whispered that she was seizing when foam started to drip from her mouth onto the beach sand. She couldn't seem to open up her windpipe to breathe, and it felt like her lungs were going to explode in her chest.

All this, while the noise tore her brain apart until she passed out again.

When she awoke two hours later, the sound had changed. It wasn't as easy to ignore now, but it wasn't painfully loud, and for that, at least, she was grateful. No, what made it so hard to block out was that it seemed to be _speaking_ to her. It was nothing coherent, no words or thoughts that she could make any sense of, but it was definitely saying _something_. It wasn't speaking loudly, more like whispering things to her that she didn't understand. It almost sounded like more than one person talking at once, but something told her that it wasn't.

As she had continued to lie there with the voice rattling off within her brain, she made the effort to turn her head back up to look at the sky. It was painful, but she had managed it, almost so relieved when she saw those dark clouds that she wanted to cry.

She stayed that way for another whole day, falling in and out of consciousness whenever her body decided it needed rest. Now, as she lie beneath that vortex of impending rain, her throat was parched, and she could feel her lips beginning to crack and bleed whenever she moved them. Her stomach was constantly growling, and soon she had to work to occupy her mind with anything else that wasn't food related.

Eventually, her thoughts had drifted back to that night, and her sacrifice. Specifically, they drifted back to that last look between her and Regina, the one she hadn't been able to get out of her head, where the both of them had shared one terrified, desperate look before Emma had thrust her hand into the darkness.

Regina had begged her to stop. She hadn't listened. Hadn't wanted to. Her mind had been set on doing this, on taking on the darkness, on protecting the mother of her child. In her mind, there hadn't been another option. It was either this, or loose Regina.

But of course, she had done it to save the others too… hadn't she?

She certainly hadn't been thinking of anyone else at the time. She had said her goodbye to Hook, but she found that the pull she felt towards him hadn't been nearly enough to make her stop. She had thought before that she had been doing this for everyone, for the town and for her family and friends. But all she could think about in that moment was Regina. Regina _had_ to be saved from this. Regina didn't deserve this. She deserved better than to be yet another pawn in this sick game of light and darkness. She deserved peace and happiness. It couldn't be her.

So it had to be Emma.

Now, she looked back and tried to make herself feel bad for feeling that way, for putting Regina higher than anyone else. _All_ of those people had been important, not just her. Every citizen of Storybrooke was important. Protecting Hook had been important. Protecting Robin for Regina's sake had been important. But as much as she knew that she should be ashamed for putting a certain priority on one, while ignoring the others… she couldn't really bring herself to care.

Most of those _people_ caused her more trouble than they were worth anyway. Aside from a few like Archie and Ruby, they all treated her like she was a tool for securing their own happiness. Forget _her_ wants and desires – if Leroy and the Six Other Dwarves weren't happy little clams, she had work to do. She had saved that town and its people countless times, and what had they ever done to thank her? _Nothing_.

There were other exceptions. There were her parents, of course, and Hook who all loved her and actively reminded her of how important she was to them. There was Robin, who, despite her blatant and sometimes unexplainable dislike for the man, made Regina happy, and therefore was important. And of course, there was Henry; her and Regina's brilliant boy who she was so proud of, she didn't have the words. All of them had been more important to her than the other people in that town, as harsh a truth as that was.

But Regina had still been the only priority then. Regina had always been there, if not thanking her in some way for saving the town or Henry, then saving the town or their son right along side her. A few times, even by herself. Regina had believed in her, had encouraged her, and challenged her, and made her want to be better everyday. She wanted to be someone the brunette could depend on, just as Regina had become someone for Emma to depend on.

Henry, her parents, Hook, and Hood had all been worth saving. She was happy that they would be alright.

But her last thought before exhaustion took her again on that beach was a desperate wish that back home, Regina was happy and safe… and proud of her.

* * *

 **Five days.**

 ** _She isn't._**

She is. I know her. She believes in me.

 ** _She hates you._**

She doesn't.

 ** _She's rejoicing by now. She has everything she could ever hope for._**

Stop _._

 ** _She has her son all to herself._**

 _Our_ son.

 ** _She is happy with her true love._**

I don't want to hear this.

 ** _I wonder what she's like when she's in love. Probably less of a bitch, I'd wager._**

She's always had light within her. She's always been good.

 ** _Certainly not while_** **I** ** _was training her. You must be thinking of a different Regina._**

You twisted her. You manipulated her and made her believe the darkness was the only way.

 _ **It**_ **i** **s** _**the only way. She got what she wanted in the end, didn't she?**_

She suffered! She suffered because you wanted her to, because you needed a pawn to get to my world. She could have been happy a long time ago. She could have had a good life, if not for your ambition.

 _ **I may have guided her hand, but everything that she did, she did voluntarily. She was**_ **never** _**a victim, and she knows it. Her suffering made her who she is, and I know that you're partly grateful for it. She wouldn't be – what was that phrase swimming around in that dream of yours? –**_ **Your Regina** _**, if she hadn't done what she did. You never would have had Henry if she hadn't become the Evil Queen. What are you so upset about?**_

You're right, she _did_ get what she wanted, and I _am_ grateful for her time in the darkness, because eventually, she became stronger than you. She was better than you. She _beat_ you, became more than you ever imagined. She has light _and_ dark magic. She is more powerful than you could ever hope to be. But I sacrificed my life to protect her from you. What makes you think that I wouldn't sacrifice the same thing and more to take her back before she had to endure so much pain, if she asked me to?

 _ **So valiant. That'll fade with time. I must say, you're much more interesting than my usual hosts.**_

At least one of us is entertained.

 ** _I wonder what she's like in bed._**

Shut up.

 ** _Do you think Robin just rams it in as hard as he can? She seems like someone who would like it rough._**

I said shut up!

 ** _I know that you've thought about it. I live in here now, remember? I never knew it was possible for a person to be so consumed with jealousy and not realize it before._**

Jealous of Regina?

 ** _Fool. Jealous of that ludicrous bandit._**

Don't be ridiculous.

 ** _I'm in your head, dearie. You can't hide your thoughts from me._**

You don't control me.

 ** _You're right, I don't. Not yet._**

You will _never_ control me.

 ** _But I will. In fact, I'm already coming up with a splendid plan for when I do. Would you like to hear it?_**

No.

 ** _Alright, you're going to like this. First, I'll travel back to that retched town you call home and destroy everything I can. You hated it there anyway. You hated those people. You'll be glad when they're gone, I promise._**

I won't let you.

 ** _Next, I think I'll kill your parents. And that dreadful boyfriend of yours. We can do much better._**

I won't let you get within a hundred miles of them!

 ** _Next, I think I'll kill this Robin character for you. As slowly and painfully as I possibly can. Perhaps I'll kill him in front of Regina. She always did like watching good torture back in the day._**

Fuck you!

 ** _Last, I have to say that your boy will have to go._**

I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill myself before you touch Henry!

 ** _Now now, settle down. The boy is weighing you down anyway. You're much better off without him meddling in affairs that have nothing to do with him. Also, I haven't finished speaking._**

I don't want to hear anymore!

 ** _You don't have a choice. Besides I think you're going to like the last bit. The part where we take Regina_** **for ourselves.**

She isn't ours to own.

 ** _Well she wouldn't have a choice in the matter of course. Besides, she would look absolutely_** **delicious** ** _in nothing but chains, don't you think?_**

I hate you. When I find a way to get you out of my head, I'll make sure you suffer more than anyone else who has ever lived.

 ** _Will you make me beg for death?_**

Yes.

 ** _And will you leave me to suffer longer, the more that I beg you?_**

Yes!

 ** _And will you take immense pleasure from watching me writhe at your mercy until I'm nothing more than a broken shell of what I used to be?_**

YES!

 ** _You sound more like the Dark One already._**

And there, on the beach where she still lay after five days, she felt her heart drop in her chest. She had been fighting so hard, fighting against the whispers in her head that had eventually solidified into a dark parody of her own voice that seduced with every word. She'd been fighting against the Dark One for control of her own body, for dominance within her mind, and for the light she could still feel struggling to stay alive within her heart.

All of a sudden, with the Dark One's statement, she realized how futile it all was. This was a loosing battle. The Dark One would win. She would lose control sooner or later, and she would no longer be the Savior. She would be nothing but hatred and malice and wrath, with more power than she knew what to do with. She wouldn't be able to stop herself from destroying the town. She wouldn't be able to protect her friends, her parents, her son, or Regina. When she realized that she might not even _want_ to by the time she got that bad, she wanted to scream.

She would hurt the people she loved more than anything, and she wouldn't even care.

It took her a very long time to notice that she was crying. When she did, she nearly stopped completely at the realization that she was no longer in pain. She didn't want to do anything too fast, so she tried moving a finger. She winced in expectation of the fire that was always accompanied with movement, but it never came. There was no pain at all.

Slowly, she began to sit up, her sore and underused muscles protesting, but she found herself nearly moaning in pleasure at the sensation. It was so much better than the pain from before that she enjoyed something so new. It was good to move again.

But the first things she noticed once she was sitting up again were her hands.

Gone was the peach pale skin she had known so well, and in its place was a strange and disturbing combination of speckled gold and green. Her nails were sharp and black as midnight, and the once smooth texture of her palms was now as rough as sand paper. When she went to roll up her sleeves, she found that her arms were covered with the same gold-green hue, with a few small, bizarre-looking scales where her skin had been thick when she had been… human.

It was then that everything truly sunk in. This _was_ her fate, her reality. This wasn't a story from a book that happened a long time ago in a land she had never heard of. This wasn't some alternate reality where nothing was true and she could still fight for a way to wake up from the dream. This was all terrifyingly, painfully real.

She was the Dark One. She carried the greatest and most terrible power of all the realms, and she seemed to be powerless to stop it from consuming her.

She knew she should fight. Henry would want her to fight. Regina would want her to fight. Echoes of "You're a hero," and "You're better than this," had her heart beating faster, almost as if the two of them were encouraging her from within. The tears started to pour again. She _couldn't_ fight. She was too weak. The Dark One was too strong. She was nothing in comparison. She couldn't fight it. Her failure was inevitable. She would disappoint them.

 ** _You already have._**

As night fell once more, she began to weep. She could feel the Dark One's triumph from within her, like it was celebrating its victory over her already. She cradled her head in her hands as the feeling grew, and she seemed to loose more and more control over her own emotions. She began to rock back and forth while her headache returned, a taunting reminder of the strengthening guest living inside her. Her pain and her shame grew infinitely larger until she couldn't take it anymore.

She tilted her head up to the sky and screamed.

It was loud and hoarse and tortured, the scream of someone in the most desperate kind of pain. It was the kind that _begged_ for release, for death, for freedom from the worst kind of torment imaginable. She wanted to die. She wanted to kill that _thing_ inside her and know that Henry and Regina would never have to be in danger again.

Instead, she felt an unbearable pang within her chest when she realized that the only thing they had left in the world to fear, was _her_.

Magic crackled around her, a red electricity lighting the air surrounding her body on fire. The heavens finally boomed with a tumultuous roar of thunder as her agony swelled. Rain started to pour from the pent up clouds, and lightning flashed almost constantly in the tempest above. Particles of sand began to levitate around her, coaxed by the uncontrollable power shooting through her veins.

And as she screamed, she swore she could hear the Dark One laughing at the sound.

* * *

 **Seven Days.**

It was no surprise to either of them that when she had finally left the beach, she had made her way to Regina's castle. The strange, curving spires of the Dark Palace stretched up into the air before her, as mean-looking and menacing as ever. But she hadn't been afraid. In fact, from the moment she had laid eyes on the foreboding structure she felt more comfort than she had in a long time.

Her journey there had been much harder than she expected it to be. Ever since her outburst in the sand, the sky above her had been relentless in its downpour. The storm raged on for hours after she had finally fallen back down on the beach in exhaustion, and then days after that when she told herself that she couldn't stay. To make her muddy, wet, and miserable journey worse, the voice in her head had prattled on endlessly. She would ignore most of it as best she could, but the Dark One hadn't made it easy.

Seeing the place Regina had once called home buoyed her for a while. She felt almost like Regina was still there with her, supporting her and talking her down as the darkness tempted her. The palace had once been something dark and evil to the world and people around it. All Emma could think now was that she had never seen a building more beautiful in her entire life.

When she walked inside she couldn't help but laugh to herself. If Regina could have seen the state of the place, she would have had a fit. Dust covered every surface of the interior, from the entrance hall to the storage closets. A few spiders had made their happy homes wherever they pleased, and she could feel the life of more than a hundred rats living in the dungeons below.

With a wave of her hand, the palace was impeccable once again, and she smiled, thinking that perhaps Regina would have been pleased with her.

The other woman would be appalled, however, at the blonde's current attire. During her walk through the woods (which the Dark One had almost immediately pointed out as the Enchanted Forest) her clothes started to tear just from brushing against her course skin. Everywhere there had been friction, the fabric came apart like tissue paper. She might as well have been stripping. The Dark One laughed at her within her head, laughed at the ridiculousness of the Savior trying to cope with her new form. The Dark One laughed at her futile attempts to be _normal_.

Perhaps Regina would have something in her wardrobe that could withstand her new… texture.

After getting lost a few times, she finally made her way into what had to be Regina's old bed chambers. Everything was grand and spacious and any wall that wasn't a floor-to-ceiling opening onto a balcony was covered with a hundred ornate mirrors. With a flick of her wrist, she lit the neglected fireplace and smiled when its light bounced around the room, reflected a thousand times over by Regina's favorite decorations.

She set about exploring the rest of Regina's old rooms, a place that Emma could only describe as looking like an expensive, gothic New York penthouse. Aside from the lovely vanity she had seen a dozen times in Henry's book, the room was decorated exactly how Regina had once described it. A large four-poster bed with dark, silk sheets was against one wall, while a small couch and an armchair sat opposite. A table was centered in the middle where Regina had taken her meals with her father, who's room was just a door away. The closet was through a door on the farthest wall from the entrance, and was just as enormous as Emma thought it would be.

She remembered once asking Regina just how large a space she had needed for her expansive collection of clothes. She could still picture the embarrassed blush that had risen to the brunette's cheeks. She had looked incredibly adorable.

Pulling herself out of the memory, Emma started looking for something she could wear, trying not to touch anything that looked too thin or delicate for fear she'd tear it to shreds. She found a few stylish pieces of leather, but even they felt too thin to the touch, and she had no doubt that she'd end up ripping them too.

It wasn't until she reached the very back of the closet when she found something that peaked her interest. Hanging up on the rack was a coat made of some kind of material she had never seen before. It shone like leather, and seemed just as thick, but the pattern of it made her feel like she was looking at a lizard.

 ** _It's dragon hide. The fool before you used to wear it as well. It was the only thing that could handle our… combined state._**

Dragon hide. She ran her hand down the material, liking the feeling of something not coming apart at her touch. Unfortunately, the coat was the only piece of clothing Regina seemed to own that was made out of the stuff, and it definitely wasn't Emma's style.

 ** _You know, for someone with now limitless power and of at least average intelligence, you truly are an idiot. Make the clothes yourself, dumbass._**

Emma scowled at the voice that rang in her ears. Life had been hard enough with just _one_ voice in her head.

 ** _It's your own damn fault for sticking me in here. I_** **had** ** _been going for your lover, but you had to play the hero._**

"Regina is not my… lover," Emma said aloud. Despite her denial, she couldn't stop the images that came to her at the idea. Suddenly, her mind was plagued with the possibilities of what might have been. She was consumed with intimate meals and stolen kisses and the faint smell of apples coming from slightly bronzed skin. Her heart fluttered as she pictured that soft smile - one that she had received a dozen times before - in an entirely new light. A smile that now promised a thousand whispered nothings and endless nights of passion and even longer days of tender, compassionate love.

The Dark One was laughing now. She shut her eyes, trying to block out the noise.

 ** _Such a fool you are. Aren't you supposed to be picturing all of this disgusting nonsense with that halfwit pirate of yours? Wasn't your last confession that you loved him?_**

She did love Hook. She _had_ loved Hook. She hadn't known if she would ever see him again. She had to tell him while she was still around to say it at all.

 ** _So you told him out of desperation then? I'm going to enjoy ridding your life of him, I think. He makes you act like a child, clinging to the first set of arms that open to you. You're weak, so desperate for the love that you were denied as a child, that you don't even care who gives it to you now._**

She _was_ weak. She had told Hook how she felt as soon as it became clear that she wouldn't have to deal with the "what comes after." She was a coward. She was a coward for not telling Hook that she loved him sooner, but she was also a coward for being with him in the first place. Hook loved her more desperately than anyone else ever had. He would never even dream of leaving her. He was _safe,_ the option she had for herself that involved taking no risk with her heart whatsoever. She could be happily stagnant with Hook for the rest of her life, and she would never get hurt.

Aside from the hurt she caused herself.

 ** _This is why you need me, Savior. Now that I'm here, we won't settle for anything. We take what we want. We have the power to get what we want. You never have to fear anything again. You never have to put up with anything again. The people back in that town will bow before us as their superior. I'll rid you of that shallow devotion you feel to the fool pirate, and get you what you most desire. Regina can be ours._**

"She's with Robin," Emma said, numbly.

 ** _So we kill him! You hate him anyway. The way that he always has to have a hand on her, like she belongs to him drives you insane. The way that he always assumes that she'll do the right thing, like she's become the laughable fairytale archetype of a "good guy" that you despise so much, makes you doubt the validity of soul mates at all. He doesn't belong with her, he doesn't even_** **understand** ** _her. But you do._** **We** ** _do. We know that she isn't all sunshine and roses like he wants to believe. She has darkness within, just like you do now. But she's being held back by_** **him** ** _._**

"Held back?" Emma's mind was spinning. Somehow… she felt like what the Dark One was saying was… right.

 ** _He expects her to be this reformed beacon of light. She isn't. But she's being forced to hold her true nature back for the sake of her man. We could set her free. We could unlock that darkness again, make her happy again._**

"No… she wasn't happy when she was dark." The protest came out as a whisper.

 ** _Who are you kidding? She was powerful. You know the feeling, Emma. I was there on the beach when you caused the storm, remember? Deep down, you loved having so much control over everything around you. The world bends to your every whim! Would you like to tell me how such a feeling was anything_** **but** ** _euphoric? Regina felt like that once, back when she had no leash, when she didn't have any obligations except to herself. Don't you want to give her that feeling again?_**

"You said… that you wanted to see her in chains," Emma spat, the memory shooting up to her through the fog that clouded her mind.

 ** _Well…. Do you think such a freedom is just given, Swan? She's been conditioned now to believe that she has light. It will take time to… recondition her._**

"You're a monster. I'm not listening to you anymore."

 ** _I already told you that you don't have a choice! Everyday that we spend bound together, I grow stronger. Everyday, more of your precious light gets snuffed out, and I take over more and more of your soul. You cannot escape me. You were even agreeing with me! Soon, the fog in that pretty little head of yours will be so thick, that you won't be able to see the right or wrong in anything. We have_** **power** ** _._** **We** ** _decide what is right and what is wrong. I will show you what it is to be in control of your wants and desires, and you will love how good it feels with such passion, that you will never be sorry for what you lost to get here._**

And then, her hand moved.

It was just a flick of her wrist, the slightest movement that she probably wouldn't even notice on a normal day. She might have passed it off as a twitch. Except that it wasn't. It had been a deliberate move – an _involuntary,_ deliberate move.

The Dark One had moved Emma's hand.

The Dark One had _controlled the movement_ of Emma's hand.

Before she even had time to panic, the clothing on her body shifted and changed. Instead of the tattered, dirty white sweater and ripped, dark jeans she had on before, she now wore a fitted, black waistcoat, tight, black pants, and black, knee-high boots that looked like they were made to kill.

And every last piece of the outfit was made of dragon hide.

 ** _I have the power. I control_** **everything** ** _._**

Just for show, her wrist moved again and added a fitted, black jacket to the ensemble that was tinged with just the slightest bit of red.

 ** _Look at that. I even added your color._**

Emma tried to take a minute to control her breathing, but something was physically keeping her from calming down. Every few breaths would get caught in her chest and then she would struggle to get any air in at all.

 ** _Oh, are you having a little trouble breathing? I can't even imagine what it must be like to not have control over your own body._**

"B…bastard," she managed, though the word sounded as strangled as she felt.

 ** _Soon, you'll come to realize that I am the best thing that ever happened to you. They all realize that eventually._**

Emma's vision started to swim. She was light-headed and reeling from the panic she felt from not having complete control of her body. Her eyes grew wide and she feel to her knees on the closet floor. She was scared. She wanted it all to stop. She wanted to go back home and bury her head in her pillows and hide beneath the comforter. She wanted someone to tell her that she was going to be alright. She wanted to feel safe and light again.

She wanted Regina.

 ** _I'll get her, Emma. You needn't worry about that._**

And with that black reassurance, she passed out.

* * *

 **Fourteen Days.**

Her breathing was shallow. Her heart pounded in her chest. She could feel every inch of her body awaken as this new sensation took over. The Dark One screamed inside her head.

The Dagger. Someone was _calling_ her.

The pull she felt was undeniable to the point of near pain. The desire to appear before this new master – to please this new master - was overwhelming, but something within her took comfort in it. The Dark One – the demon living within her that had slowly but steadily been taking over her mind and body – was _not_ in control. It wasn't the most desired thing, since she would still have to bow to the whim of another, but anything was better than being controlled by the darkness. After fighting against it for so long, she could have wept at the relief she felt now as it shrank back into the recesses of her mind, as if it could hide from the call.

With a slight smile, she shut her eyes and let her magic pull her to her savior.

She appeared on her knees, her head bowed before the feet of the bearer.

"How may I serve you, Master?" she asked, loving the way the Dark One seemed to seethe at the words.

"Emma?"

Her heart stopped.

No. It was impossible.

Emma knew that who she heard now was back home in Storybrooke, safe and happy, and most certainly _not_ in the Enchanted Forest. Most certainly not putting herself in terrible danger just by being around her.

The Dark One roared with laughter and triumph. This couldn't have played out any better. This could be turned around very easily. The Dark One was back in control, even if the Dagger was in the hands of another.

 ** _This will be a fun game for us to play, Swan._**

Emma looked up slowly, the devastation clear in her eyes as she looked upon her new… Mistress.

"Regina."


End file.
